Different III-V semiconductor nanowires with quantum dots on silicon: growth by molecular-beam epitaxy and properties

Abstract

Recently, III-V semiconductor nanostructures of reduced dimension attract more and more interest of researchers for the new generation devices creation. Combinations of nanostructures with different dimensions are of special interest, among them, for example, quantum dots in the body of nanowires. Such quantum dotsʼ size and location control is strictly determined by the growth parameters. As a result of effective relaxation of mechanical stresses on the lateral faces of nanowires, the integration of hybrid nanostructures with silicon technology is possible. In this work, we have demonstrated the possibility of GaP nanowires with GaAs quantum dots and AlGaP nanowires with InGaP quantum dots growth on silicon by molecular-beam epitaxy. The physical properties of the selected nanowires have been investigated. Growth experiments were performed using Riber Compact 21 setup, which is equipped, in addition to the growth chamber, with a vacuum-aligned chamber for gold deposition (metallization chamber). The morphological properties of the obtained nanostructures were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The optical properties of the nanostructures were investigated by the photoluminescence method. The analyses of morphological properties showed that GaP nanowires with GaAs quantum dots were formed predominantly in the <111> direction, in contrast to AlGaP nanowires with InGaP quantum dots, which in some cases changed the growth direction. The reason for the change in the direction of growth of nanowires may be the participation of indium in the growth process. With a sufficient content of indium in the gold catalyst droplet, such mixed droplet can etch the facets at the top of the nanowires, thereby descending to the side of the nanowires and changing the direction of nanowires growth. The studies of the optical properties of the grown nanostructures showed that the photoluminescence signal from InGaP quantum dots in AlGaP nanowires is observed at a temperature of –263 °C with a peak maximum of around 550 nm. Thus, the synthesized nanostructures are promising for optoelectronic applications, in particular, for creating sources of single-photons.